Questioni like river smallmouth fishin and i was wondering what color of plastic lizard to use and how to fish it.
Answer
smallmouth worm
Caleb, in a way I wish it was just that easy to answer your question. Or maybe I don't. If it was I could ask people to pay me for the information. But then bass fishing would not be the fun or the challenge it is, because every day you could catch all the bass you could catch in a day and then the next day do it over etc. It would soon be no fun nor challenge to go fishing.
Now let me get serious with your question. Check your river and find out what kind of things live in it and what color are they. You can do this with a friend and a minnow seine. Find a shoal and pull the minnow net a few yards. A second friend would make it easier by going in front of the net kicking up stones mud logs etc. Look at what you caught. What colors are they. Are they crawfish, or minnows, or hellgrammites, or small lizards etc. If they are light colored use a light colored lure. If they are brown use a brown lure. If it is hellgrammites you want black. Try to match your bait to what the bass are likely to see all the time. Then if that does not work try something quite different color than anything you see in your net. If you do not have a net and two friends to help with this try asking at a local tackle store (not Walmart or other box store, those guys probably know less about fishing than you already do. They are sales clerks not fishermen) A true tackle store owner is likely a fisherman and is also happy to tell you what other fishermen are buying the most. Or ask a fisherman you see at the store or on the river what is best in that river. Usually they are glad to tell you what they use. I would suggest that you carry several different colors and shapes in your box. Bass are meat eaters and will eat about anything they can get in their mouths. Since smallies have a smaller mouth they often want a smaller bait then their big mouth cousins. Yes they like "meat" but they want it alive when then eat it unlike the catfishes who don't care if it is alive or dead.
Now how to fish your lures. A lot depends on the size and character of the river in which you fish. If you can wade the river wade facing upstream and cast to the left or right at an angle so your lure will float downstream. Make a few casts straight upstream but you will likely do better quartering your casts. If you cannot wade and have no boat but can walk the bank cast more upstream rather than out toward the middle. If you cast upstream your lure can drift more naturally than casting toward the middle. If you cast upstream you may as well reel in and cast again when the current has pulled your lure downstream past the point where you are standing. Cover the water downstream by moving downstream and casting upstream. Yes you will hang up more casting upstream but do you want fish or casting practice? You should do the latter in your back yard anyway. Years ago I set up a bicycle tire about 70 feet from where I stood and practiced casting to it. Eventually a paper plate replaced the tire.
Next, how to rig your lure. There are about as many ways of rigging lures as there are fishermen. When I used to fish the Shenandoah and Rapahannock Rivers in Virginia I used a worm rig that caught a lot of fish. It is a little difficult to explain so I will send you a diagram on how to do it. For lizards, or frogs (tiny ones) or grubs and sometimes on worms I use either a Texas type rig or an open hook. This depends on how much stuff there is to hang up on in the river. I use as little sinker as I can get away with. I do not use any if the current is slow and the lure big enough to cast. If there is current I still use as little weight as I can and still get the lure close to but not on the bottom. The Texas rig is simple. Just push the point of the hook through the nose of the lure about 1/8 to1/4 inch depending on the size of the lure and hook. Then turn the hook over and and push it through the body of the lure making sure the lure lies straight and the hook point is just showing. Now back the hook off just a bit so it is just under the skin of the lure. You do not want the lure to spin while you reel it in.
Basically you do not work the lure in river fishing as you would in a lake. Let the current work it for you. If the current is too slow you may have to give it a few hops to keep it moving downstream but don't overdo the hops.
I do not know what kind of outfit you use but my suggestion is to get yourself a 7 foot medium action spinning rod and an open face spinning reel. Use six pound test line for most situations although you might want to go to eight pound line in cases where there are sharp rocks or brush in the river. Practice using this gear in your back yard and use a test lure of the same weight that you would be using in the river.
